October 30, 2011

Family comes to visit!

Well I’m writing this post a couple days after saying goodbye to my Dad and stepmom Joanne.They came to visit us for a couple weeks and having them here was a lot of fun.Here’s some of what we did.

Of course, because we live in Xian, we went to visit the Terracotta Warriors.Good news!They’re still there!I’ve been to the Warriors one other time, but I was amazed at how much more I saw and learned this time around. If anyone needs a tour guide, let me know!

We also visited the Big Goose Pagoda, the Bell and Drum towers and did some shopping in the Muslim district.We had a great time seeing all the sites of Xian and enjoying some local food and some really good home cooking from Heather.Seriously my wife has been cooking/baking up a storm lately (which is really hard to do because the ingredients for a storm are hard to come by).

Other than the tourist stuff we did a lot of hanging out around the house and just playing with the kids.I know the girls and Caleb enjoyed every minute of it.It’s always fun to show our guests what life looks like for us here in China and to have them experience it with us.We also had a ton of fun bartering for souvenirs downtown.

Lastly, we (the grandparents, Sydney and I) all took the overnight train to Beijing.In the two days we were together we saw the Great Wall (including toboggan ride down), the Summer Palace and a park that was built behind the Forbidden City and was used by the Emperor.After two days Sydney and I boarded the overnight train back to Xian.

With hope,

The Petersons

P.S.A quick update on the kid’s health.It seems like they are getting better, especially the girls.Caleb’s recovery has been slower.Thank you everyone for your prayers!